66. As a temporary relief measure for the 65,000 disaster victims, the Social Welfare Department issued nearly 1,950,000 cooked meals and 850,000 portions of dry rations during the year, each person being fed normally for a month. The figures for the previous year were roughly 1,400,000 and 84,000 respectively.
67. Complementing the efforts of the Department were those of the various voluntary welfare agencies engaged in relief work such as the British Red Cross Society, C.A.R.E., the Lutheran World Service, Church World Service, Catholic Relief Services, the Salvation Army and the Kaifong Associations. They rendered valuable assistance through cash grants and through the distribution of blankets, used clothing, food parcels and cooking utensils. After the typhoon, the Cheung Chau Chamber of Commerce and the Stanley Residents' Association, among other local bodies, came promptly to the rescue of homeless fisherfolk and others in their neighbourhood with temporary accommodation and food; while the international societies mentioned above provided generous relief according to their resources.
CHAPTER XI
THE PHYSICALLY AND MENTALLY HANDICAPPED
68. Two significant developments in welfare work with the phy- sically handicapped occurred during the year. Firstly, the emphasis on providing shelter and relief for the handicapped has given way increasingly to one of rehabilitation, of restoring them as far as pos- sible to social and economic usefulness. In making this new policy felt the Special Welfare Services Section of the Department has received the co-operation of voluntary organizations and other Government departments. The Education Department set up a Special Schools Section in April 1960 aimed at encouraging voluntary organizations to establish and expand a system of special education which would prepare handicapped people for vocational training. The physiothera- pists and occupational therapists on the staff of the Medical and Health Department also assisted greatly in the work of rehabilitation. That Department has also established a surgical appliance centre which offers a very satisfactory limb-making and limb-fitting service.
69. The second development was the display of greater willingness on the part of the handicapped to come forward for registration by the Department. The number of physically handicapped persons registered
18